Constant Contact vs. Adobe Marketo Engage

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Constant Contact
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Constant Contact is a full-featured email marketing solution with capabilities such as social media integration, drag-and-drop editing, and real-time reporting. It is a bulk email tool designed for SMB customers. Since 2019, Constant Contact also offers marketing automation features, a website and landing page builder, and other tools to support midsize businesses.
$12
per month
Adobe Marketo Engage
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Marketo Engage (acquired by Adobe in 2018) is a marketing automation platform whose basic features include email marketing, drip nurturing, landing pages, and lead scoring, but other editions offer additional advanced features. Typical customers are B2B firms with complex sales cycles.N/A
Pricing
Constant ContactAdobe Marketo Engage
Editions & Modules
Lite
Starting at $12.00
per month
Standard
Starting at $35.00
per month
Lead Gen & CRM
Starting at $449.00
per month
Premium
Starting at $80.00
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Constant ContactAdobe Marketo Engage
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsThe SMS Marketing tool can be added to any Core or Plus Constant Contact account. SMS is only available in the US for Core and Plus paid plans. SMS can be added when logged in to an account after purchase. Plans start at $10/month for up to 500 messages.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Constant ContactAdobe Marketo Engage
Considered Both Products
Constant Contact
Chose Constant Contact
it is the youngest sibling compared to the much more competent and capable older brother that is Marketo Engage. The reports, database management, and complete control of email designs, and interaction of recipients does not compare. Constant Contact is a great entry-level …
Chose Constant Contact
Quite simply, Constant Contact offers a great bang for your buck when compared to these other products. It isn't an extreme amount of capabilities, features, or bells and whistles that convinced us with this product. We simply wanted to try something that was cost-effective, …
Adobe Marketo Engage
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo is a great tool for any campaign involving automation. I've used many different marketing automation (Eloqua, etc...) and email tools (Constant Contact, Campaigner, MailChimp, etc...) and I felt that learning Marketo was pretty painless in comparison to many other …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo blows Constant Contact out of the water! When we used it, we had to upload our larger lists in separate batches since it would only let you import 10k at a time. When we send mass emails to our clients, it will have well over 60k contacts for a single email. It also …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
They are much more robust when it comes to keeping tabs on leads and customers. The ability to ensure no-duplication is fantastic in Marketo and the design and WYSIWYG editor is much more powerful and correct than Constant Contact. However, it is very reflective of these …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Most other products are just email send tools and do not offer comprehensive marketing automation or email orchestration. Sendgrid is highly customizable, but requires developers to create integration. MailChimp and Constant Contact are very easy to use, but have limited …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo, in my opinion, is better than the others when working for a B2B or tech company. I felt like it gave us more control over how we distributed messaging to our customers and prospects that helped them easily understand complex tech and software products. Alternatives …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo provides email marketing services but does so much more.
While Hubspot, SFMC, and ActiveCampaign have more automation, they do not come close to the customization that Marketo allows you to create.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Sharpspring has a lot of problems that Marketo does not. We are still learning Marketo and optimizing our strategy around the enhanced capabilities.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo Engage is definitely the most powerful marketing automation tool I've used. Its robust features and integration with other common CRM tools makes it the leader for email marketing software.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Adobe Marketo Engage is way more efficient and time-saving. I used to have to create every single email we sent. Now I can automate almost all of them and just fill in the tokens.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo is robust and effective - it can be daunting to learn but once you learn something you get ahold of things in the system quickly over time. Marketo has a cleaner interface, it is nice to be able to have everything rolled into one spot and not have to figure out how to …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo is much more complex than these others. That's a double-edge sword because there seem to be a lot more intricate campaigns and workflows that can be developed, but it is not turnkey at all. So working with an expert to get set up with Marketo will likely be necessary to …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
I did not select Marketo; it's an optional suggestion we make to the customer based on their needs. If I have to say overall: Marketo is behind most of the other tools out there: Price, looks, and outdated functions. For most clients, we suggest other tools.
BUT if you want a …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo is best for enterprise companies that want to create complex campaigns and robust communications, with analytics tracking, etc., while other options are less robust.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo far exceeded Act-On's capabilities and is much easier to use. Pardot is comparable to Marketo, but ultimately my prior experience and satisfaction with Marketo led me to choose Marketo.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
I have used MailChimp, Eloqua, and Constant Contact. They do not offer the same powerful integration and innovation as Marketo. Companies struggle to get everything in one place (records, behaviors, demographic data and marketing communications). Teams then struggle to generate …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo is more powerful and gives you better tools and analytics. Marketo is a long set up compared to the others, but we made the investment to create a better experience for us and our clients.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo looked easier to use and their functionality was way better at the time.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
We have only used Marketo for automation, after previously using constant contact which was to email our clients, and prospect. Marketo is automated and holds our database, where Constant Contact did not.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
I've used smaller alternatives, like Constant Contact and Act-On, and evaluated larger competitors like Pardot. Marketo worked both at my current and former company because it was always malleable enough to meet every requirement, and because the ecosystem was strong enough …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Unlike the alternatives listed above, Marketo is more than just an email marketing provider. It's lead management feature allows you to create audience lists using filters instead of bulk imports and score the engagement level of each contact with Lead Scoring.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo is easy to learn and easy to use. It has a lot of integrations with other platforms like GoToWebinar, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads. You can set up complex nurtures for cross marketing. Lead scoring is intuitive. Email reports are basic and easy to read. Making website …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
This depends on how large your firm is and how complex your needs are. Medium and large firms with the ability to dedicate time and resources to a marketing automation system will see a myriad of benefits from using a robust tool such as Marketo. Smaller firms without the …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Personally I've used Hubspot, Constant Contact, Infusionsoft and MailChimp. Each one had good and poor features. Hubspot was probably most equivalent to Marketo in its lead management and email tools. As mentioned earlier I like how MailChimp allows users to do a final check of …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo is the superior option for my use.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Constant ContactAdobe Marketo Engage
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Constant Contact
8.0
113 Ratings
2% below category average
Adobe Marketo Engage
8.1
979 Ratings
4% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor8.097 Ratings7.5888 Ratings
Dynamic content7.998 Ratings7.6865 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content8.382 Ratings7.8843 Ratings
Landing pages8.172 Ratings8.1905 Ratings
A/B testing7.069 Ratings7.9891 Ratings
Mobile optimization8.586 Ratings7.8863 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting9.1109 Ratings8.1947 Ratings
List management8.2111 Ratings8.8944 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences7.157 Ratings9.0854 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Constant Contact
8.0
110 Ratings
2% above category average
Adobe Marketo Engage
7.5
949 Ratings
0% above category average
Dashboards8.388 Ratings7.3891 Ratings
Standard reports8.1108 Ratings7.8929 Ratings
Custom reports7.458 Ratings7.4884 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
Constant Contact
8.0
62 Ratings
6% below category average
Adobe Marketo Engage
-
Ratings
URL Validation8.231 Ratings00 Ratings
Link Tracking7.934 Ratings00 Ratings
Image Validation8.832 Ratings00 Ratings
Inbox Display8.535 Ratings00 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools7.928 Ratings00 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check7.849 Ratings00 Ratings
Spam Testing6.026 Ratings00 Ratings
Email Previews9.061 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Adobe Marketo Engage
8.7
947 Ratings
12% above category average
Lead nurturing automation00 Ratings8.8922 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading00 Ratings8.8897 Ratings
Data quality management00 Ratings8.7895 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks00 Ratings8.7850 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Adobe Marketo Engage
7.9
876 Ratings
4% above category average
Calendaring00 Ratings7.5708 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing00 Ratings8.3836 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Adobe Marketo Engage
7.4
545 Ratings
1% below category average
Social sharing and campaigns00 Ratings7.5536 Ratings
Social profile integration00 Ratings7.3375 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Adobe Marketo Engage
8.5
939 Ratings
11% above category average
API00 Ratings8.5807 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals00 Ratings8.5685 Ratings
Customizability00 Ratings7.9831 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com00 Ratings9.1808 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM00 Ratings8.6271 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM00 Ratings8.2173 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Constant ContactAdobe Marketo Engage
Small Businesses
ReachMail
ReachMail
Score 10.0 out of 10
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 8.6 out of 10
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Constant ContactAdobe Marketo Engage
Likelihood to Recommend
7.7
(128 ratings)
8.5
(1129 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.7
(23 ratings)
9.0
(146 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(10 ratings)
8.0
(98 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(25 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(30 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(9 ratings)
8.8
(89 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(12 ratings)
Online Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
6.7
(29 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(5 ratings)
10.0
(37 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
6.0
(6 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(4 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
1.8
(9 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
7.0
(10 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(3 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(7 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(6 ratings)
User Testimonials
Constant ContactAdobe Marketo Engage
Likelihood to Recommend
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is an excellent tool for sending out flyers and newsletters. However, I feel the content's appearance is typically all the same. When I receive an email from Constant Contact, I can immediately identify it - the templates usually all look the same. When sending out communications with images, it is easy to use Constant Contact and link webpages. However, the email layout is always vertical and can get very lengthy. I prefer a more flip-book approach with options to flip the page.
Read full review
Adobe
Adobe Marketo Engage is great for lead gen because of the out of box solutions. We import leads from Google, LinkedIn, Meta, Tradeshows, and web forms. It allows me to track leads from the moment they enter the system to the point where they become customers. I use it to score leads, segment them, and nurture them with targeted content. It's especially useful as a B2B organization.
Read full review
Pros
Constant Contact
  • Market segmentation is great: my main segmentation is by region because that's how our sales team is divided.
  • Lists: making customized email lists is easy and intuitive; the custom fields allow some flexibility in case our fields don't exactly line up with Constant Contact's.
  • Campaigns: creating campaigns is quick and simple. I especially appreciate the 'resend to non-openers' option. I am constantly using this feature.
  • Subject line generator: I like using the recommended subject lines. I'm able to plug in their recommended ideas, or sometimes, this feature helps me generate my own ideas.
Read full review
Adobe
  • Like I have said Marketo has been very helpful by helping us to connect us with our customers and keeps them coming back, hence saving time, effort and resources.
  • Let AI build predictive audience and segments easily.
  • Personalize experience with active listening and triggered content.
  • 24/7 responsive support and service team.
Read full review
Cons
Constant Contact
  • It would be nice if we had more customizable options for emails - like moving around pictures and text boxes, rather than a set spot for everything to go.
  • I would like it if multiple people could work on a document at one time. So if I'm in charge of graphics, I can get those updated while someone else is entering content, etc.
Read full review
Adobe
  • Marketo's email editor is basic in comparison to other cheaper alternatives out there.
  • Marketo doesn't work as well in B2C scenarios as it does in B2B. One of the painpoints of this is it's difficult to showcase a selection of product recommendations based on purchase behaviour without a very time consuming workaround. It's manageable if you're only selling a handful of products, but it's inefficient when dealing with a large catalogue.
  • Marketo's form and landing page builder are also behind the times. Perhaps not as bad as the Salesforce Marketing Cloud platform, but for an enterprise company the product should be much better.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Constant Contact
There is no doubt that we are going to renew Constant Contact. We have not just invested a lot of time in learning and creating a great looking product but we have developed a strong database of information that allows us to track how we are doing for each newsletter. This supports our goals of creating products that residents desire and are excited to receive.
Read full review
Adobe
We're likely to renew for several reasons:
  • Now that it's been implemented, I can't imagine not having marketing automation and the easy interface that Marketo provides to run our campaigns
  • Marketo's community and customer service is fantastic; I know that when I need help, I'll get it
  • Marketo continues to improve the product, so I know that I can expect it to be even more useful in the future
Read full review
Usability
Constant Contact
There is always room for improvement. I don't know how they test their systems, but they should invite not-so computer savvy people to test it. If I, as an expert have problems, they need to think like the technophobe. Since I've used Constant Contact in the past as part of my former employment, I have not viewed any of the tutorials and just jumped in to work on my client's newsletter. With that said, I found some areas easy and some a bit cumbersome
Read full review
Adobe
In some aspects, the tool can feel quite clunky in parts. But with the rich feature set it has, it's understandable. There is a lot of room for improvement for the user interface. The system itself doesn't have a slick or modern feel, so the usability could feel nicer to use with these areas considered.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Constant Contact
No major problems in sending out the email campaigns and accessing the analytics
Read full review
Adobe
Marketo provides different way and abilities to connect. If you are having product support or unexplained errors you can get someone on Marketo support 24 hours a day. One of Marketo's greatest assets in my opinion however would be the community. Often times our company is just looking for case success stories from someone else. In the community you can search for problems you are currently facing and see others having the same issue and solutions for those issues. If not, you can pose a question to the whole community and champions of the product and others can chime in to provide suggestions to fix your needs. The community is truly a 24/7 place to get your answers quickly.
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Performance
Constant Contact
The system seemed quite slow sometimes. Specifically, there was sometimes a delay in sends if it was during a high traffic period. There were time-outs when uploading new code for an email, and a lag in reporting analytics which was sometimes as long as 72 hours
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Adobe
There are times when it is slightly slow for us, where we sit on a screen waiting for it to load. This could be our internet since we have had the same issue occasionally with other systems, but it is enough to make you crazy.
Read full review
Support Rating
Constant Contact
I think the overall support for Constant Contact has always been incredible; I have nothing negative to say. Our customer support representative was attentive, easy to understand, and very knowledgeable. I never felt like I wasn't a priority of his and my issues, while very small, were fixed in a very short time frame.
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Adobe
On multiple occasions we've had Marketo support (technical and license based) issues. Technical issues were minor and resolved within a day. License based issues (even things encouraged by Marketo for partners, like provisioning another license) took WEEKS. They actually took so long to respond that the client we were working with withdrew from the contract because they were no longer convinced Marketo was capable of supporting their business. As an agency trying to sell the software, you can only explain away so much before they just made us look silly.
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In-Person Training
Constant Contact
No answers on this topic
Adobe
Our account rep stopped out in Lincoln, NE to ensure we were properly set up and running. This was very much appreciated. I was very, very new at this point, so I can't comment very much on the extent of what was taught because I was still brand new to the company and the system
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Online Training
Constant Contact
No answers on this topic
Adobe
I had never used Marketo prior to taking this job so online training was my starting point. I was able to follow along, it was interesting and quickly and efficiently taught me what I needed to know without a lot of fluff. It was far from boring and really helped me get my hands dirty with Marketo.
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Implementation Rating
Constant Contact
Implementation is very easy for someone who wants to send out the “batch and blast” type newsletters. If you want to use their templates with no customizations, the product works fine. However, the more customizations you get into involving link color, etc, that’s where things can get tricky for someone who may not be familiar with coding
Read full review
Adobe
1. Have a content marketing plan to run in parallel with the marketing automation installation--you'll need a lot of content to make full use of Marketo's capabilities. 2. Work with sales (and ISRs) to define and document a workflow--build your Marketo installation around how you do business--not figure out how to apply your business to the tools 3. Spend time of data cleaning--both an initial project as well as a strategy for ongoing data management. We found some change manaement issues (no more appending ZZZ to the first name to identify contacts who have left the company, for example, or prohibiting the entry of "info@company.com" email addresses). 4. Find some champions in the sales and ISR teams. You'll have both fans and detractors--work with the fans to build some success stories
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Alternatives Considered
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is much more intuitive for people who are not tech-savvy. Also, while sendgrid offered more options in it's drag and drop interface, it displayed differently across different email clients, which made it very cumbersome to use. It also took much longer to upload contact lists and it was harder to manage existing contacts. Performance in sendgrid was much slower as well, and the Preview feature was quite buggy. Our team initially chose sendgrid because of the integration options that it's API offered, but we ultimately switched to Constant Contact because it was much easier to build campaigns and better suited our requirements.
Read full review
Adobe
Prior to Marketo, we used SharpSpring. I will say that SharpSpring is more intuitive to use than Marketo, but it has much less functionality. If you have the time to really learn Marketo, it has much more to offer as well as many more options to customize the solution to your exact needs.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Constant Contact
No answers on this topic
Adobe
The total cost is a little bit higher than we expected.
Read full review
Scalability
Constant Contact
Very reliable in sending email campaigns and controlling the recipients so that no contact is sent the same email more than once, even if they are on a resent list
Read full review
Adobe
We look at scaleability in a few different ways. First, the speed while using Marketo has remained relatively the same as our database has grown. Though I would say Marketo is slow at times, it has not gotten slower over the last few years. If anything, it has improved, and they are working to improve it. Second, the amount of programs we have developed in Marketo has exponentially grown as well. Marketo has allowed us to drastically increase our output without having to drastically increase our headcount.
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Return on Investment
Constant Contact
  • I have had nothing but positive impacts from using Constant Contact.
  • The church is large, and there are many subgroups and axillary groups within the church. Setting up specific groups based on responsibility, interest, member goals, and service needs allows me to send information quickly, saving valuable time for other tasks.
  • Constant Contact allows leadership to stay personally engaged with the members I work with, without over-taxing my time. It feels so seamless.
Read full review
Adobe
  • Generated a 35% higher return on investment (ROI) in demand generation in the company.
  • The focus on the accounts that presented a greater sales potential, allowed us to prioritize and reduce costs by 20 Million USD.
  • Being personal and optimized. reduced efforts towards a more personalized customer experience, in working hours by almost 100 h.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Constant Contact Screenshots

Screenshot of The AI Content Generator can be used to create content for emails, social posts, or SMS.Screenshot of Advanced Automation workflows make sure marketing is always on.Screenshot of Hundreds of pre-built email templates are available or a simple drag-and-drop email editor is available to start from scratch.Screenshot of The Social Posting tool is used to plan and post Social media messaging across platforms.Screenshot of SMS Marketing can reach customers wherever they are.Screenshot of E-commerce tools can be integrated with Constant Contact to sell more.

Adobe Marketo Engage Screenshots

Screenshot of Marketo Lead Scoring - Marketo dynamically scores leads in real-time and can trigger a timely sales call based on website or other activity. Lead scores are integrated with a connected CRM.Screenshot of Marketo Moments - A mobile app designed to deliver timely, actionable insights.Screenshot of Simple or advanced workflows, built using drag-and-dropScreenshot of Lead nurturing can be performed without having to be a programmerScreenshot of Visualizations - display the revenue influence of each program and channelScreenshot of Marketo Sales Insight, which filters out the noise